December 14
Giving Our Best
And being found in appearance as a man, [Christ] humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. - Philippians 2:8
Have you ever known someone - perhaps at work or even at home - who only gives the bare minimum? There are many Christians like this. They engage in spiritual pursuits only when necessary. They have time for everything else, but somehow they just don't have time for God. That is not the way to live the Christian life.
God says if you want to be holy, and as a result happy, you must actively walk in His ways. But what does it mean to walk in His ways? Does it mean to walk in good feelings? No. It's to walk in the law of the Lord the Scripture says (see Psalm 119:1). Some Christians will say, "I'm not under the law. I'm under grace." Now in a sense that is true. Christians are no longer under the curse of the law, the law that we were unable to keep through our own strength. But also understand that Jesus said, " 'Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill' " (Matthew 5:17). We are not under the duty to keep the law to earn God's approval. But that doesn't mean that we disregard the law. It doesn't mean we say, "I'm not under the law anymore so I can do whatever I want."
The principles of the law certainly still apply in the Christian's life. The difference is we don't follow the law because we have to. We follow God's law because we want to. The principles of the law are not restrictive - they are protective. Some might say, "I'll settle for the bare minimum." But our hearts should long to give so much more. After all, we're doing this for God! Jesus has done everything for us! It should be our joy to give our best to Him.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.